Nickel and dimed: How pennies and nickels are costing you money

Nickels and pennies are far from money savers. In fact, they cost more to make than they're worth, The Washington Post reported. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Spare change is far from a money saver.

The Washington Post reported Monday that "taxpayers lost $105 million on pennies and nickels" in 2013. Minting a penny costs 1.4 cents, creating a nickel costs 9.4 cents — almost double its worth — and a dime costs 4.6 cents to make, The Post reported. A lot of the pricing of the currency forms has to do with the material they are made of.

That sum "may be pocket change compared to last year’s budget deficit of $680 billion," The Post reported, "but in an era of budgetary austerity it’s enough to make politicians take notice.”